Non-partisan UK-based Disability campaign. Advocacy for people with invisible illness and/or physical & mental health conditions. Also Carers, their Families and Friends.
Our individual voices are too quiet to be heard, but collectively we can shout loud enough to drown out this tide of abuse against us. Disability Hate Crime, lack of full legal protection, people in care homes costing too much to be let out and not one political party willing to fight for us.

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Friday, 13 January 2012

Day 5 #spartacusreport

What an amazing week for sick and disabled campaigners! Sue and I are so
incredibly proud of everyone. We've lobbied, researched, tweeted,
blogged and campaigned despite how very poorly many of us are. Through
provocation and disappointment about media coverage people have remained
calm, considered, rational and constructive, which is so important as
we are finally breaking through to the mainstream media and that is
because we have facts, reason and morality on our side. When the best
justification the government can dredge up to cut benefit eligibility to
the most vulnerable, those disabled during childhood, is that some of
them might at some point inherit some money it is clear how dubious
these 'reforms' are both morally and politically. We are British, our
sense of fair play is hardwired into our national identity; the
justifiable outrage people feel about benefit fraud will pale in
comparison with the outrage ordinary, decent people will feel about the
most vulnerable in society being targeted and bullied by a government
who have already committed to overturn the considered judgement of the
Lords by using antiquated laws.

This week we have been able to demonstrate to the wider public something
we all knew. That we are not ranting for the sake of it, but that we
have detailed evidence and clear alternatives to the government's
proposals. Sue's appearance on Newsnight last night shows that the media
are finally starting to understand that, and see us as a credible,
powerful community.

We know how exhausted you all are, we are too. We know how much pain you
are all in as we share that pain. We share your frustration and your
fears. Just yesterday our community had to support someone through the
terror of receiving their Work Capability Assesment notice, to comfort,
to console them and desperately try and persuade them not to end their
life. We take all such pleas very seriously as there have already been
multiple suicides associated with benefit loss.

As long as we remember we are a community we can all get through this.
We must support each other, agree to disagree where necessary and never
forget we are fighting for a shared aim. We owe this debt to those
disabled people who lived and died in institutions, abused, hidden and
ignored. We owe it to those disabled people who found the courage to
rise up, to protest against the conditions they were forced into, many
of whom never saw freedom but fought to protect those younger than
themselves from imprisonment. We owe it to those who's mantra was
"Nothing About Us Without Us". We owe this debt to all of our community
who are still institutionalised, still in 2012 being horrifically abused
by those supposed to 'care' for them and to the public who's taxes foot
the bill for that abuse. We owe this debt to ourselves, to ensure we do
not have to return to institutional living, to being condemned, hidden
away and ignored because we are 'stock' 'too expensive to sustain'.

We must continue to keep up the pressure lobbying the Lords for next
week's DLA votes, contacting MP's in preparation for when the Welfare
Reform Bill returns to the Commons, and sharing our stories with the
public so they understand that we are them. We are their daughters and
sons, sisters, brothers, husbands and wives. We are all Spartacus.
Together we have taken on the leader of the Labour party and last night Sue was fantastic debating with Chris Grayling on Newsnight. As Spartacus we can continue our fight.

So long as we remember "Alone we whisper. Together we shout" then we can and will win.

4 comments:

I have personally been contacting alot of crossbench peers about these issues. Most have not replied but some have in a positive way and they have said their fight continues on towards DLA fight.

I am petrified about the WCA, I am petrified about losing my DLA, I am petrified as - To me - Small as my life is - I still want to live!

I am scared about the govt threatening to use old old laws to just push everything through no matter what the Lords have said. That is so wrong. They are such an arrogant government, and clegg being a lap dog does nothing like his yellow party - they are all cowards and abstainb rather than be a decent part and stand UP for what is right - If this is how Lib Dem are = Yellow cowards - They deserve zero votes in the future!

I have no idea who I would vote for in another election as all parties seem to be completely uncaring and useless. - I would vote for Sue and Kaliya as Prime Ministeresses!!

Perhaps Yoko Ono’s declaration that ‘woman is the nigger of the world’ should be recast. _The sick and disabled are the niggers of Britain_, in so far as a nigger is a person abused, disrespected and exploited by those in power, with power, or set upon doing evil.